The Don Cole Commentary for:
April 24, 2001
Armenian Genocide
Hello everybody. I'm Don Cole:
Let's get it straight at the beginning: an Arminian is not the same as an
Armenian. Arminians are Christians whose views of election are not the
same as those of Calvinists. An Armenian is a member of an ethnic group
whose ancestral home is Armenia. In modern times, part of the territory
formerly known as Armenia is held by the Turkey or Iran. Armenians are
for the most part Christians, surrounded by Muslims. Many Armenians or
their descendants live in the United States. I love them, at least those
whom I have met. Those I have met are followers of Christ.
Say the word "Jews" and people think immediately of the Holocaust. Say
the word "Armenian" and people whose knowledge of history goes back to WW
I think immediately of genocide. Long before the word "genocide" had been
cheapened by misuse, it had been attached to the word Armenian, as in
Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide was the Ottoman Empire's attempt to exterminate the
entire Armenian nation. It should be understood that modern Turkey is
heir of the Ottoman Empire. Modern Turks are no guiltier of killing
Armenians than modern Germans are guilty of participating in the
Holocaust. However, whereas the German State admits to having tried to
exterminate Jews, Turkey persists in denying its historic part in the
attempted genocide.
Genocide is not too strong a word for what Turkey, in collaboration with
the Kaiser's Germany, tried to do. Henry Morganthau, whose name used to
appear on U.S. dollar bills, wrote, in 1916:
My failure to stop the destruction of the Armenians had made Turkey for
me a place of horror; and I found intolerable my further daily
association with men who, however gracious and accommodating and good
natured they might have been to the American Ambassador, were still
reeking with the blood of nearly a million human beings.1.
The major offense of the Armenian people was to be Christian. In the
Islamic world, they were regarded as worth less than farm animals. The
Ottomans were like the Pharaoh of Egypt after Joseph's death; they saw
Armenians as a potential threat and, accordingly, killed as many as could
not escape. No more than half a million did escape; the others were
tortured and killed.
Today, April 24, is the day set aside every year for Armenians (and their
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ) to remember the horrors endured by
their grandfathers and great grandfathers. Christ warned his followers
that disciples were not greater than their master. If he had suffered, so
would they. Armenian Christians, infinitely more than the rest of us,
have proved the truth of their Lord's warning. Our hats are off to them.
They were martyrs, and as such, their memory is part of the church's
richest legacy.
Today, we honor the descendants of Armenian martyrs to the faith.
I'm Don Cole.
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1. Henry Morganthau, "Ambassador Morganthau's Story, in AGBU, April 1999:
14.